Apparatus for drying asbestos and the like.



A L, A. RICE. APPARATUS FOR DRYING ASBESTOS AND THE-LIKE.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1 914.-

Lewis Anson nro-af, "centesimi/iowa? rnitnsrntaitra faser (gfrega 1; 0 i, rena "D ,ggaarija, f or 'r'irnrroaoMines;QUEBEC;rationalityL(` .anranamusronnnrrno asens'ros Ann risafaire'.

meseta Teelt whom-tmaylconcem.f y l' 't 'lrno'wn th'at'L LEiis. RICE, abitien of the United States of America, residiiigfat lrllenftown, State of Pennsylvania, Uniteddtates ofAJnerica, have invented certain new and useful- Improvements in Apparatus yter Drying `Asbestos and the like; and l Ado hereby-declare that the followingis full, clear, and exact description of the sameiv My invention relates particularly to the drying and cleaning of asbestos bearing roch and has for 'an object to bring the iherslinto direct contact with ay currentpf heated air or gas and to ,provide a new and improved drying apparatus to secure the advantageous, results of, first, more thoroughly and eiiciently drying the asbestos than heretoore; second,` avoiding charring of ythe tibersedue to 'excessive heating and.' third, producing amore.v desirable grade of ber than formerly. A

,uthen objects land advantages will be hereinafter more fullydescribed and particularly pointedout .in the claims. F or lull comprehension,` hO'WYIfOf my I1VeI1- tion reference must be had tothe accompanying drawing forming a-part of this speciloation in which similar reference characters .indicate the same parts and wherein: Q

ligurel isanelevation, partly in section,-

r of a drier constructed according to my invention; ig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2 -2 Fig. l; Figs'. 3 and et are, respectively, a plan and a siderelevation illustrating the construction of the supports for thefgrid bars; Figo is an enlarged horizontal section on line 5-5 Fig. 2; and Fig.

6 iS; detail perspective view illustrating the articular arrangementof the grid bars.

,l eretofore the drying and cleaning of asbestos has not been `entirely,satisfactory forthe reason that after the cleaning and drying process it has beenound that it was somewhat oil color thus indicating the t presence stillfo certain impurities, such as clay, dust, etc., andturtherniore the asbestos has frequentlybeen heated tosuch lan eX- tentthat' it became charred or so very brittle j Ihliplieatton led. fr', i914.;r` Serial i',

Specicationof Letters-Patenti that its commercial value was; `:conside rah/1y Contact `with the ,asbestos fin a suitable man;I ner such as ymay be.y edected,1 orgeitamplerloy means of my improved drierythefconstruck tion of which.v I; will describe, in connection with my improved drying and cleaning method. Q i

A suitable-structure of any 'desired"forin may be utilized, that shown i in; the drajty ingsl consistingof ajtjower -2 olisqu'arecro s j; section, 4 provided with :manholes "Bgatgsuits, able intervals .and h aying. a' discharging hopper et at .or near thebottom thereof'gand/ a chute at thetop for feeding `the1.1t'b'tf-r the tower down which. it drops, the 'tore'r -he= ing conveyed to the inlet chute preiferably by an elevator .6. `In ,the toweny below theI inlet 5, an varrangement ot grids orfhailiesi. is formed through ,which the asbestos ilters and .is spread outasit'` descendsanddhprfefer to form this. grid ofgverticall'y;andihoriff zontally spacedbars '7 arranged{in qvertically. disposed sets i, each. off which Consists oztwo rows oflsubstantially parallel bars ,in Sagj-z gered relation and extending# -ac'ross-the tower lfrom side to side5 alternatefset's being singularly disposed with-fire latiron toweachf other, that is the @hars -offeachfset are arranged preterablyv at right-,angles to; the bar'sof adioiningsets.I gtl`hegbarsr' are'gipieti erablyof `l"iron and removably; mounted in' the tower vloy `merlifs yofhorizontal plates'. arranged in vertically disposed pairs falter* nately embedded oriotherwise suitably `secured to diderent opposingf'interiorrsidex their Hangesfrestingmpon theextensijons The bars lare `free tobe. -mofvedl in anffupward direction v away i from' their! supports and reinoved yfrom thentower' through" 'theL man y1 holesl 3.

To dry the asbestos as the ore containing the same filters down through the grids l. direct a current of heated air or gas in an opposite direction, that is, upward through the tower to an outlet port 11 at the top of the latter through which the gas and impurities or waste products pass, the velocity of the air current being regulated proportienately to the quantity of material passing down through the tower while the chute 5 is provided with a back pressure valve l2.

At or near the bottom of the tower I provide a furnace 13 which communicates with the tower and supplies the hea-ted air directly to the interior of the same by means of a passage 14 and although any approved means may be provided to force the heated i air through the tower, I prefer to utilize a blower lll which communicates with the firebox of the furnace as at 15. The arch or roof 16 of the iirebox is formed with one or more passages 17 communicating with the exterior of the furnace, extending across the iirebox from front to rear and communicating at their rear or inner ends with a common chamber 18 from which latter a pipe 19 leads to the intake of the blower casing so that as the air is drawn in through the passages 17 it is preheated before being forced into the firebox with the result that the drying of the asbestos is performed in a highly efiicient manner.

The asbestos is dropped from the chute 5 upon the grids and descends in an intermittent manner through a staggered path, the falling mass. being retarded somewhat and opened up and thusthoroughly dried by the ascending heated gases before dropping into the discharge hopper '-1. v

The provision of means for ,preheating the air and then increasing the heat of the same by passing it through the iirebox of the furnace and the regulation of the heated current enables the fibers to be subjected to a flash heat and thus avoid any prolonged heating and consequent charring of the fibers while the heated air cominginv direct contact with the fibers and acting upon the ymoisture therein has the eil-'ect of forming steam which thoroughly cleans the fibers so that when the latter are discharged they are what may be termed bleached and therefore of high commercial value.

What I claim is as follows:

1. In an asbestos drying apparatus, the combination with a tower adapted to have the asbestosV assed therethrough, of a furnace, the fire ox of which is in direct communication with the tower, a passage in the furnace wall communicating at its outer end with the exterior of the furnace and extending across the top of the rebox and a device, in communication with the inner end of the passage and with the firebox, for

drawing air through such passage and forcing the air through the iirebox into the tower.

t2. In an asbestos drying apparatus, the combination with a tower, of a furnace, the irebox of which is in direct communication with the tower, passages in the furnace wall communicating at their outer ends with the exterior of the furnace and extending across the top of the irebox, a chamber having the inner ends of the passages communicating therewith, a blower, a pipe leading from said chamber to the blower and a pipe leadingv from the blower to the firebox.

An asbestos drying apparatus havin a tower adapted to have the asbestos droppe therethrough and a furnace in direct communication with the tower, such tower having an arrangement of grids therein comprising vertically7 disposed sets of bars, each set consisting of two rows of substantially parallel bars in staggered relation, alternate sets being angularly disposed with relation to each other.

4. An asbestos drying apparatus having a tower adapted to have the asbestos dropped therethrough and a furnace in direct cornmunication with the tower, such tower having an arrangement of grids therein comprising vertically disposed sets of bars, each set consisting of two rows of substantially parallel bars in staggered relation, the bars of each set being arranged at right angles to the bars of adjoining sets.

5. An asbestos drying apparatus comprising a tower having an asbestos ore inlet and a waste product outlet at the top and a discharge hopper at the bottom, supports secured to the interior sides of the tower and having vertically slotted inward extensions, the supports being arranged in vertically disposed pairs alternately secured to different opposing sides of the tower, T-iron bars resting upon the supports and having their webs located in the vertical slots of the latter, a furnace, the rebox of which is in direct communication with the tower near the bottom thereof, passages communicating at their outer ends with the exterior of the furnace and extending across the top of the rebox, a chamber having the inner end of the passages communicating therewith, a blower, a pipe leading from said chamber to the blower and a pipe leading from the blower to the firebox.

G. An asbestos drying apparatus having a tower adapted to have the asbestos dropped therethrough and a furnace the iirebox of which is in direct communication with the tower, such tower having an arrangement of grids therein comprising vertically disposed sets ofbars, each consisting of two rows of www?? Subsantlally parallel bars n staggere relaln testimony Wheeof, l have signexl my iiona alternate sets being angularly disposed, name to this speeication, in the presence of with relation to each other, means for pass two sobscrbing Witnesses.

ing all' through the rebox into the nower LEWIS ANSON RllCE. and between said bars and means for heatn "Witnesses: img such air previous to its entry to *elle fre- STANLEY U, KING,

box. HAROLD J. Smm

@omen o? wie patent :mw be obtained fos. ive cents eaeh, y addressing; the ommssloum mi Entente,

Wazshmgcon, B. C. 

